By Madison Canez, Staff Writer
If you’ve been noticing more people crossing campus on foot or taking laps in Fugate Gymnasium this month, it’s probably because of The Walk for Mental Health, a walking contest being put on by Newman’s Mental Health Advocacy Team.
Organized by Ivy Annen, Newman’s Mental health Project Coordinator, the contest includes teams of Newman students, staff and faculty who are counting their daily steps in hopes of winning a free lunch and a traveling trophy. Teams signed up for the contest, which started on April 1 and concludes on April 30.
“We wanted to get students to get out and moving,” Annen said. “This is the time of year where students are in their rooms studying and we want them to take a nice break.”
Each team of five has a designated captain, and each team member is required to use a pedometer app or step counter to track their progress. Every week, the team captains are responsible for submitting their teams’ step totals.
In addition to the team award, there will also be an individual award for the person with the highest number of steps.
Twelve teams are participating, a number that Annen said surprised her.
“At first, I really only thought there would be five teams,” Annen said. “...Their participation is amazing.”
Senior Emma Taylor is part of a team that goes by the name “Half Man, Half Horse.” Her teammates are junior Travia Smith, senior Haleigh Pearson, junior Alex Schreiner, and Athletic Trainer Mitchell Hewitt.
As of Wednesday, the team was in first place with 416,627 steps. They were followed by Shrek’s Swamp Stompers, a team that includes Director of Residence Life Ian Lecki, Director of Security Steve Patton, Vice President of Academic Affairs Jill Fort, assistant baseball coach Ryan Morrissey, and Melissa Castle from Human Resources.
In third place was The Proclaimers, a team made up of seniors Hayley Bonython, Beth Griffiths and Paige Craft and juniors Braxton Muldoon and Brooke Burcham.
Taylor said she was excited for the walking challenge.
“I love to walk, and getting my steps in is important to me,” she said. “This challenge gave me the opportunity to see how hard I can push myself.”
PHOTO: Dannicka McGrath, Photo Editor
